Monday, August 29, 2011

I love folk art. I love seeing a traditional method or motif being reinterpreted into a modern new idea....

Last night I went to the Budapest Beer Festival. I was surprised by how much GREAT music there was! Two bands really stick out. First is Folkfree. This band mixes traditional Hungarian songs and instruments with rap-and they do it really well! The video below is from their website. The instrument in the beginning is so cool! Does anyone know what this is called?

The second band which !rocked! was called Firkin. Irish tunes speed up so fast you could hardly recognize them. On their website I read they are also inspired by Hungarian folk music.This band had so much energy, you could not help but jump around and dance. They were truly amazing!

Friday, August 26, 2011

I have been diligently working on a new collection I call "Bohemian Dreams". I have been wanting to design this collection for a long time, but the inspiration and ideas weren't coming together....until now. Pinterest has been a HUGE help! Have you heard of it? Have you signed up? It is a great way to visually brainstorm and created collections of images that inspire you. I have created 11 boards so far. I have a board for color combinations that I find beautiful, a board of studio images that are inspiring my future studio, and boards categorized by themes. Check out my boards here: Diane's Pinterest.

You will find a board called "Bohemian Dreams". I started this board by pulling images-any image-that was in the general feeling of what I envision for this collection. I have narrowed it down a bit and have come up with this.

Today I start drawing. I can't wait to show you the final collection when it is ready. I have two clients that this is being designed specifically for....more to come.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

I am back from Beaucaire and Provence. It was a great time relaxing, reading, eating, laying in the sun, shopping the brocantes (flea markets) and walking around all the cute little towns. Another great trip with tons of inspiring architecture, textures and motifs.

Below are a few photos I took of gates, railings and anything iron that I thought was photo worthy....

The colors of Provence are very washed out-mostly shades of tan and stone. When you see a building that has been painted a color, it stands out. The shutters and plants are really the only color you see when walking the streets. Below is a photo of Soulieado museum which I visited last year. I just had to go back and look through the shop...so many beautiful fabrics!
We traveled to many neighboring towns exploring wineries, tasting olive oils and enjoying casual lunches. Below are a few photos from around Provence. I love the green vines covering the buildings.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Just stopping in to say a quick "Bonjour!". I am having a wonderful time in Beaucaire enjoying the sun, olives, time with friends and relaxation. Hope you had a great weekend! See you back here next week!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

I have had a great week so far. I finished two collections, have had 3 good conference calls and just bought 2 plane tickets to Beaucaire, France! My friend is so sweet to host us for 10 days. We have been talking about going for months but the timing was never right. So, two days ago we bought tickets to leave on Monday! Last time I was in Beaucaire I designed my collection Bonjour! I am excited to see what inspires me this trip.

remembering last year...

I walked the twisting narrow streets of town...

was inspired by the shutters and flowers...

found beauty in small details...

partied with the locals...

and enjoyed beautiful sunsets.

I will have little internet and am happy to say that me, my paints and creative spirit will be sketching away. So, I will see you back here on August 18!

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copyright & usage

All images and work shown here, unless otherwise credited, are the copyright of Diane Kappa Designs. If you would like to post my work or feature my images on your blog or pinterest, please give proper credit and link to my blog or website. Thank you.